Wiley · August 2026
The AI Instinct
The Future of AI and Human Decision-Making
Foreword by Kai-Fu Lee · External review by Joscha Bach
AI was built by modeling human cognition. For decades, machines excelled at deliberate reasoning while humans dominated fast, intuitive thinking. That boundary is fading. The AI Instinct explores how modern AI systems already shape what gets trusted, believed, and decided, and asks a practical question: how do we preserve agency when cognition itself becomes shared?
Drawing on Rana Gujral's experience building production AI at Behavioral Signals and his research across paralinguistics, cognitive science, and the philosophy of mind, the book proposes Artificial General Experience as a missing dimension in the path to AGI, and hybrid cognition as the likely architecture of superintelligence.
Three Core Ideas
Artificial General Experience
The next architecture of mind requires intelligence joined with experience, continuity, consequence, and lived internal structure.
Hybrid Cognition
Human and machine thinking are already merging into coupled systems. The question is how to design the coupling.
Superintelligence as Fusion
Superintelligence will not be a standalone machine. It emerges from the tight integration of human and machine cognition.
Foreword
Kai-Fu Lee
TIME100, Author of AI Superpowers (NYT bestseller) and AI 2041 (Best Book of the Year, WSJ)
Kai-Fu Lee is one of the most respected voices in artificial intelligence. As the author of AI Superpowers and a pioneer who has led AI research at Google, Microsoft, and Apple, he brings a unique vantage point on where AI is headed. He contributes the foreword to The AI Instinct, framing Rana Gujral's exploration of hybrid cognition and Artificial General Experience within the broader trajectory of AI's impact on human civilization.
External Review
Joscha Bach
Philosopher and AI Researcher, Founder of the California Institute for Machine Consciousness
Joscha Bach is a cognitive scientist and AI researcher known for his work on cognitive architectures, artificial consciousness, and the computational foundations of the mind. His external review of The AI Instinct, titled "The Age of Artificial General Experience," examines the book's arguments through the lens of cognitive science, philosophy of mind, and the history of AI.
Praise for The AI Instinct
“Gujral masterfully bridges the gap between our intuitive System 1 reactions to technology and the rigorous System 2 analysis required to govern it. An essential guide for navigating the profound structural shifts in how we live, work, and relate to one another.”
Ramesh Menon
CTO at the United States Department of Defense and CAIO at Defense Intelligence Agency
“Rana Gujral's book reframes advanced intelligence around experience, then traces the implications for hybrid human-AI cognition, governance, and preserved agency. The result provides practical clarity without sacrificing philosophical depth.”
Ben Goertzel
AI scientist and AGI pioneer; CEO, SingularityNET; Chair, Artificial General Intelligence Society
“Once humans and machines become a coupled system, the security problem changes. You're no longer securing software, you're securing decision-making. The AI Instinct explains why that matters.”
Bruce Schneier
Security technologist and author of Rewiring Democracy
“The scope of Rana Gujral's thinking is exceptional. Unlike many current critics of AI, he points out tremendous chances and opportunities. He understands that the present focus on technical capabilities and mitigation of rapid adoption falls short.”
Joscha Bach
AI Researcher and CEO of California Institute for Machine Consciousness
“Offering a rare blend of technical clarity and philosophical depth, The AI Instinct redefines artificial intelligence as a force that reshapes the way we think, feel, and decide. The concept of Artificial General Experience is both provocative and practical.”
Dr. Pawel Gora
Founder & CEO, Quantum AI Foundation
“Rana Gujral moves beyond the stereotypical discussions and adds the missing pieces essential to gaining valuable insights into this unstoppable technology. He explores how AI signals the next stage in human evolution as we merge with our technologies.”
Tom Foremski
Silicon Valley Watcher
“The AI Instinct makes a case the field needs to hear: that the experiential dimension of AI deserves as much serious attention as the capability dimension. Gujral's vision of superintelligence as fusion rather than replacement is both more plausible and more interesting.”
Cameron Berg
Founder & Director, Reciprocal Research
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About the Author
Rana Gujral is CEO of Behavioral Signals, where he builds production AI systems for voice intelligence and deepfake detection. He speaks at global forums including the World Government Summit, WAICF, TNW, and TEDx.
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